


you take the breath right out of me

by dinglehorton



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, but no actual death, lil bit of sex talk sorta, some talk about death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 16:16:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8292248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinglehorton/pseuds/dinglehorton
Summary: Prompt: You should write about robron at the hospital after the disaster!
or: Robert reflects on his relationship and future with Aaron. probably will be a bit AU once the episodes air, because I haven't read many spoilers for this October storyline.





	

 

 

 

Robert is surprised to find Adam seated next to him when he wakes. He's tapping away on his phone, not paying attention as per and only moves when Robert attempts to make himself more comfortable.

 

"Oi be careful or you'll pull out all the stitches," Adam presses a gentle hand to Robert's shoulder, then helps him carefully adjust the pillows and the angle of the hospital bed so he's more comfortable. "Vic'll kill me if I let you die on my watch."

 

"Where--"

 

"She's with Aaron. We've got a nice rotation going here so don't muck it up by gettin' all needy now, Sugden," Adam grins, looking satisfied with himself.

 

The events of the day before come flooding back to him all too quickly and his pulse spikes on the monitor. He remembers Aaron falling, remembers the look on his face just as he tipped over the edge and down towards the water, scared and alone. He remembers scuffling with Lachlan, the boy he had once genuinely cared for, and now Robert was left wishing that Lachlan was dead instead of Aaron. Because how could Aaron have possibly survived that fall? When Robert slipped over the edge of the cliff, his last thoughts before hitting the water is that he never got to propose, never got to truly tell Aaron how he feels, that he doesn't know what will happen to Liv once they're gone and those thoughts truly terrify him more than death. Robert knows Aaron has so many people who love him and would mourn him, but who besides Vic and Diane would mourn Robert? And then less than a second later the water is pulling him under, deafening and ice cold. He didn't expect to survive that, let alone see Adam Barton sat by his bedside.

 

"I think Chas is next in line, sorry for that," Adam says, jokingly, but there's a hint of truth behind his words too. "Convince her to rest a bit, yeah? Spent the past four days back and forth between the lot of ya."

 

"Four?" Robert asks, his voice hoarse and dry. How long had he been sleeping, he wondered, that wasn't just yesterday?

 

Adam jumps up to get him a glass of water, and huffs before he says, "Ya been out of it for four days, mate. Scared the life outta Vic for a moment."

 

"Aaron--"

 

"Is fine. He's alive. Woke up this morning worried only about you and Liv, who is off with the Dingles if ya can believe it," Adam says but Robert can see that he wants to say more. Watches his brother-in-law open and close his mouth a few times, for this first time in his young life clearly at a loss for words. Chas pushes open the door with a tray full of coffee in her hand and interrupts whatever Adam had planned to say. She beams at him, _at Robert_ of all people, chattering on a mile a minute about miracles and how Aaron has already tried to leave his hospital room to see Robert twice today.

 

"Alright, I better go find Vic," Adam says, shrugging his coat on one sleeve at a time, still looking like he has something to say. "We promised Aaron we'd take Liv for her tea and updates on you two."

 

"Adam," Robert calls out, stopping Adam from leaving and they look at each other in silence for a moment as Robert tries to find the courage to say what he wants. He wants to say "Thank you for being here" or "I appreciate you caring about me" or "thank you for loving Aaron." Instead, he says, "We'll finish this later, yeah?"

 

Adam grins, "Only if you're the one buyin' the beer."

 

~

 

Chas chatters on and on, so Robert eventually feigns sleep just to shut her up. He _is_ tired so he doesn't feel too bad about it. She's Aaron's family, so he's Robert's family too but sometimes he needs a break from her voice. He almost smiles, eyes closed, as he wonders if Aaron did this when Chas sat with him. From her constant blabbering, Robert's gathered that Aaron is okay, but that had been touch and go for a bit too.

 

"Almost lost both of ya," Chas says softly when she thinks that he's asleep. She curls her fingers around his uninjured hand and squeezes slightly. "S'posed to hate ya, Robert. Kinda hard to hate ya when you're riskin' your neck for my boy."

 

He really does fall asleep then, content enough to try and rest now that he knows Aaron is okay. He dreams of Chas sitting at his bedside while he's unconscious, whispering "please don't die" over and over in that annoying, but loving voice of hers. She's holding his hand then, too, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Liv can't lose either of you." He's not sure if it's a dream or a memory because it feels _so_ real, but her words make him feel warm regardless.

 

~

 

When he wakes up again the sun has set and Liv is curled up on the chair next to his bedside, her jacket bunched up like a makeshift pillow. It's too dark to see the clock hanging on the far wall, but Robert knows that it's late because the hall is quiet and the lights are dimmed. His first thought is that she should be in a real bed, with a real pillow and blankets. Robert contemplates throwing his empty water cup at her to wake her up, the nurses having already threatened bodily harm once already for moving to the bathroom unattended; he contemplates sending her home with a lecture, but ultimately he decides to let her sleep. He can't even imagine how terrified she must have been waiting for both of them to wake up. In the end, he's only okay with her staying the night because he wants to keep her as close to him and Aaron as he can for as long as he can. He knows Aaron is safe, and now he needs to know that Liv is safe too.

 

"Liv was here last night," Robert tells Chas the next day when she arrives to check on him. She doesn't look too surprised and sighs at Robert's unimpressed face.

 

"She'll be sleepin' next to Aaron tonight if she was here last night," Chas remarks, the corner of her lips turning upwards ever so slightly. "She was terrified, Robert. Watched you flatline, she wasn't sure if either of you were gonna make it. It's been easier to let her sleep here so long she goes to school and gets some rest too."

 

"What about you?"

 

"Don't you start too!" Chas scolds, pointing a finger in his direction, but there's no heat behind her words. Robert's glad to hear that Aaron has been telling her off too; nagging his mother is a good sign that he's really, truly doing okay.

 

~

 

Vic arrives later, carrying a plastic shopping bag and wearing a big smile on her face, "Hiya!"

 

Adam follows behind her, pushing a wheelchair in front of him. He looks dead serious about not running it into anything as he parks and locks the wheels like he's already been scolded by a nurse for it.

 

"What's this?"

 

Vic reveals a shaving kit and then points at the wheelchair, "We're breaking you outta here for a few hours."

 

"Doctor approved an' everything," Adam includes with a grin.

 

"To?" Robert asks, but neither of them will answer his questions.

 

Vic sing-songs while setting up the shaving kit, "You'll see!"

 

When he's shaven and situated as comfortably as he can get in the wheelchair Adam begins to roll him down the hallway. They don't go far, maybe only a few doors down, before Vic turns and knocks on the door softly. Chas' voice calls out to come in and immediately Robert perks up at the sound of a familiar voice. Vic pushes open the door, holding it so Adam can maneuver Robert's wheelchair through the door, but all Robert can see is Aaron. Aaron sitting up, Aaron not dead, Aaron's beautiful eyes wide open, Aaron smiling at the sight of Robert. He blocks out the rest of the room, only focusing on Aaron's bruised, _but very much alive_ face.

 

"Hi," Robert says softly and Aaron laughs though it's clearly painful to do so when he presses the palm of his hand against his chest.

 

"Get over here so I can kiss you," Aaron says and despite Adam's groan, he pushes Robert as close as he can to Aaron's bed. The kiss isn't long or very passionate because neither of their ribs allows it, but it's a promise from Aaron that _later_ , that they'll pick that thought up later when they're not surrounded by Bartons and Dingles and the smell of antiseptic and IV lines. Aaron is breathless though when he finally pulls away and says, "Hi. I love you."

 

Robert can feel his own face turning pink and wills himself not to cry in front of his and Aaron's family, and says softly, "Thought I lost ya."

 

Aaron takes Robert's good hand and squeezes it, tight and reassuring, "Right here."

 

Before Chas ushers everyone out into the waiting room, Cain and Adam help Robert onto Aaron's bed despite the halfhearted protests of the nurse. They face each other; Robert rests his hand against Aaron's chest. Aaron's good leg is hooked around Robert's at their ankles. They look peaceful as they talk, content to finally just be in each other's presence, but Chas can see that both of them are terrified that this is all a dream. She ducks out of the room after making sure that they're both comfortable, leaving them alone for the first time since _that day_.

 

"Mum says she found a ring. In the suit jacket they cut off ya," Aaron says, not meeting Robert's eye.

 

"That was my best suit," Robert says with a groan.

 

"That's what the barn was then? You were gonna--" Aaron asks and Robert nods. "Before I turned it all to shit. Do you still--"

 

" _Yes_ , Aaron. I love you so much. Of course, I still want to marry you," Robert says and inches his way forward to press his chest against Aaron's, despite the pain it causes to his ribs, kissing him soft and slow when he finally gets there. Aaron's hair is, blessedly gel-less, soft and untamed so he threads his fingers through it, only pulling away when Aaron starts to moan, leaving yet another promise against Aaron's lips for when they're both healed.

 

"I love you," Aaron says, eyes beginning to flutter with the exhaustion of such a long few days. "Wanna marry ya too."

 

~

 

It isn't until a few days later when Robert is back in his own hospital room that he begins to plan, begs Vic to bring his laptop and cellphone to him despite the doctor's orders of uninterrupted rest.

 

He finds the perfect house to buy with enough rooms for him and Aaron, Liv, with plenty left over for guests. Liv is the first person he talks to about it, and he has to reassure her that she is moving with them. _Like I could ever, ever abandon you now_ , Robert thinks as she beams at the computer screen, curled against his side on the hospital bed as they click through the pictures of the house together. Her approval means more to him than he ever thought it would.

 

He shows Chas next, her face is stoic as she moves the mouse across the screen and when she pushes the laptop away she sighs in a way that has Robert worried. Of course he'd still buy Aaron and Liv a house if she disapproved, but having Chas' blessing would mean the world to Aaron. And if he's honest with himself, it would mean the world to Robert too.

 

"Promise me that he's it. That he is it for you, Robert. Because he _won't_ survive losing you. He or Liv. And if you promise me that they are all you need then... we'll put everything that happened before now behind us and be a family," she says, eyeing Robert's facial expressions as she speaks.

 

She must see something when she mentions them being a family because all he has to say is "of course. I _love_ them." and she's agreeing to have the reception at the pub whenever the wedding ceremony happens and that she gets veto power on all decorations in the new house. She kisses him on the cheek before she goes to check on Aaron, hugging him around his neck for a moment. Robert sits in silence, stunned for a full ten minutes after she leaves.

 

When he reiterates this to Aaron later, after the hospital, after Robert's proposed and showed Aaron _their house_ , after they've made a right mess of their bedroom, Aaron smiles.

 

"What?" Robert asks, blushing under Aaron's gaze.

 

"I think that was her way of saying welcome to the family," Aaron says rolling on his side and pulling Robert as close to him as he can.

 

"I think I liked your welcome better," Robert says with a grin, sliding his hands down Aaron's chest, dipping underneath the waistband of Aaron's underwear.

 

Aaron moans when Robert's hands finally meet their destination. He barely manages to stutter out, "W-well I hope so" before Robert smirks and ducks down under the covers for round two.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> that's probably the closest I'll ever get to writing smut lol
> 
> you can find me @ dinglebrose on tumblr


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